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PILOT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY
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Introduction
The world is being inundated with waste, landfill is overflowing and the oceans are teeming, not with fish, but with bits of plastic. Packaging from our grocery shopping creates a huge amount of excess and needless waste. Businesses and consumers are now realising that something has to give and are making an effort to change. Many zero waste shops have opened in recent months but it’s hard out there, supermarkets are operating on net profit margins of around 1%, who can compete with that?
Naked Larder can!
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Naked Larder is a home based, packaging free, online shopping and collection service for dry goods and eco-friendly cleaning products. It is a great, cost effective and simple way to shop for high quality products, sourced from sustainable, ethical suppliers, with minimal waste.
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After a six successful years in Herne Hill, we're keen to empower like minded people to grow home based businesses like ours, maintaining the low cost model and bringing affordable packaging free shopping to many more communities. We have worked closely with a British Franchise Association business coach and feel that this can best be achieved through franchising.
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We’re looking for people to pilot our franchise model with.
Do you want to run your own business without working long hours?
If you are looking for a new direction and can spare around 40 to 60 hours per month, why not join with us and do something that may change the world for the better? You'll run your own ethical business to be proud of: bringing outstanding sustainable food to people at cost effective prices at the same time as minimising waste and building a lovely, local community of like minded people.
Our unique model and its benefits
Our model is very different to a conventional shop and offers some attractive and distinct merits:
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Initial investment is very low, meaning risk is low and the business should turn profit faster.
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Hosting collections in our home based outbuilding means overheads and running costs are also extremely low. This allows us to compete with supermarket own-brand prices.
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Low working hours, it’s not like a shop which needs to be manned 9 hours a day, there is flexibility in terms of deciding when collections will be held, to fit around your life.
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By franchising, you will get all the help you need to set up your own business very quickly. We can show you how we have done it and guide you through all the way.
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Operating under an established brand with a strong reputation will make raising the profile of your business easier and all our franchisees will benefit from the national coverage we will generate. You will own your own individual operation whilst having the benefit of a recognised brand name at a very low cost.
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But more than that we want to demonstrate to supermarkets that their wasteful, unethical practices are no longer acceptable. New sustainable ways of shopping are the way of the future. The more Naked Larder expands as a brand, the more we will stand out and the more the supermarkets will have to sit up and take notice that people want something different now. You will be part of our movement to fight against these big corporations, standing up to them to demand and bring about change for a better world.
Initial considerations to see if this opportunity is right for you
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Please have a thorough look through the Naked Larder website. Then there are some important initial factors to consider before moving forward:
1) Collection and storage space: You will need a large space (at least 45m sq) to host the collections and to store products. Ideally, you’ll have this for free or low rent or have the space to erect one. It could be an outbuilding on your property, you could hire space in a community hall or you could find a low cost unit to rent. You will need some parking at the property and it will need to be accessible for delivery trucks.
2) Deliveries storage space: You will need a vermin proof store for large bags of food after delivery for a few days until the majority of it is taken at collection. This could be a van or a room in your house or some other suitable space.
3) Initial investment: Set up and fit out costs are extremely low in comparison to most businesses. We will provide more detailed information if you wish to proceed.
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4) Physical demands: The produce comes in sacks or containers weighing up to 25kg and you or a helper will need to be able lift these.
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5) Skills required: You don’t need experience of running a business. Basic business skills, knowledge of sales, marketing, customer service and social media will help but are not essential. We will provide training in all these and ongoing support.
We’re looking for franchisees who we like and trust, are energetic and motivated, and who share our vision for a better world where waste is minimised and good food and good business are the norm.
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6) Setting up and Starting out: We will provide you with your own website and online shop which will fit into our national website, be in the Naked Larder format and under a Naked Larder domain name. You will run the website and online shop and be in control of what products you sell and what prices you charge (as long as those prices fit with the Naked Larder ethos). Your customers will place their orders, you will collate the orders and then order from suppliers to cover the total customer orders. Following deliveries, you will host collection slots in your premises for customers to collect their orders. This model means that you will be very busy for short periods: deliveries and collections, but this will only be around 3 or 4 days a month and the rest of the time you will be free to manage as you wish.
You’ll manage marketing, customers’ accounts and orders through your website and home based office. You will also manage your own financial matters and bookkeeping but we will provide everything you need to do this. The hours you work are flexible and time you spend will depend on you.
The unique position of the pilot
The pilot franchise will be an opportunity for us to test, review and evaluate how our franchise process will work. In return you will benefit from a low initial fee and preferential rates.
You will continue to be a sounding board and pilot for innovations and in return for this you will receive ongoing benefits that future franchise owners will not get. We hope to build a relationship with you and want you to be committed to the Naked Larder brand as well as your own local venture.
We want you to enjoy the challenge of growing your own business and the brand and becoming a valued and trusted member of your community.
Setting up a Naked Larder franchise mitigates the risk of setting up on your own, because you get plenty of support from Head Office at the outset and ongoing. If you need to secure any funding from a bank this will be particularly helpful.
What other costs will there be?
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Initial Franchise Fee
The pilot franchise will pay a much reduced Initial Franchise Fee in order to reflect their status as a pilot. There will be a small charge for the licence to use the Naked Larder brand and a few other small charges to cover actual Head Office expenses. The total charge will be £2500. No charges will be made for any Head Office time spent in training or supporting you.
Head Office will provide the following:
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The license to use the Naked Larder brand
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Your domain name. Website, email and online shop costs for the first year.
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Training at Naked Larder, Herne Hill.
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Templates for documents and spreadsheets, your website and your online shop.
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Four branded Naked Larder aprons and two banners/signs.
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Marketing materials including flyers and some social media material.
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Up to two visits to your site.
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Weekly telephone/skype meetings in the initial phase of your setting up.
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Food hygiene certificate, GDPR training certificate, manual handling training.
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Legal agreement drawn up by British Franchise Association approved solicitors.
2) Management Service Fee (MSF)
For the pilot, 4% of your monthly sales will be charged as a Management Service Fee (for others it will be 5% of monthly sales). This will cover:
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Ongoing support from Head Office.
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Service development and supplier research
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Continued research in new lines
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Quality control to ensure the brand’s ethos and standards are maintained
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Help with accounting and bookkeeping
By industry standards, these fees are relatively low and as the nationwide presence and buying power of the brand grows, we anticipate these fees will be largely offset by growing supplier discounts that the brand as a whole will gain.
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3) National Marketing Fee
The pilot franchise will be charged 0.75% of monthly sales for the duration of the franchise relationship (for others it will be 1.5% of monthly sales). This is ring-fenced and will cover:
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Head Office social media marketing
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National promotion and press
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Management and development of the main Naked Larder website
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Any other general Naked Larder advertising
What can I expect to earn?*
Based on our experience so far and projecting forward, we predict that your franchise could be turning over £80K by the end of year 2 and £110K by the end of year three. Net profit could be around £15K by the end of year 2 and £30K by the end of year 3. These figures may not sound huge but remember that we are predicting that you will only be needing to work for between 40 and 60 hours a month and you can set when these hours are yourself. The above numbers will depend largely on you but we will provide as much help as we can as we want to see you grow as much as you do.
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I’m interested, what happens next?
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If you want to know more, we will ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement that we will provide. Then we should have an initial discussion, either in person or online, where we will chat with you about how you can meet the requirements for Naked Larder and what Naked Larder can mean for you. We will then send you our Franchise Information Memorandum which provides a lot more detail.
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We will invite you to a collection slot at Naked Larder, Herne Hill. It is essential to experience how the process works and will provide an opportunity for us to meet.
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We will visit your site to see whether it is suitable and help you think through how it can be set up and fitted out for the collection purposes.
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We will then provide a template business plan, with a baseline financial forecast and a spreadsheet template in which you can make your own financial projections. We will provide evidence of how our business has grown and show you how to use the spreadsheets.
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You will need to conduct your own thorough research and produce your own business plan and a proposed territory outline. You can use our business plan template for this and we can provide guidance.
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The business plan is then sent to Head Office for review and we’ll meet to discuss it. Then we’ll decide whether to approve you as a Naked Larder franchise owner.
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British Franchise Association approved solicitors will draw up a pilot franchise agreement. Training and launch dates will be set.
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You will need to look into the business set up: banking facilities, premises set up, equipment purchase, website set up, insurance, office set up etc.
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Signing of contracts and training commences.
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Countdown to Launch Day starts!
Contact Us
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If the opportunity is of interest to you, do get in touch. We’ll send the confidentiality agreement and then look forward to organising an initial conversation.
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Phili Denning
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Phone: 07815 713066
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Email: phili@nakedlarder.co.uk
*Disclaimer: Please note, these figures do not represent any guarantee of what a prospective franchisee may earn. Prospective franchisees must prepare their own set of projections based on their own market research. The projections must be validated and backed up.